Silver Age of Comic Books

The Silver Age of Comic Books is an informal name for the period of artistic advancement and commercial success in mainstream American comic books, predominantly in the superhero genre, that lasted roughly from the late 1950s/early 1960s to the early 1970s. It followed the Golden Age of Comic Books.

During the Silver Age, the character make-up of superheroes evolved. Writers injected science fiction concepts into the origins and adventures of superheroes. More importantly, superheroes became more human and troubled, and since the Silver Age, character development and personal conflict have been almost as important to a superhero's mythos as super powers and epic adventures.

Events leading to the Silver Age

Following World War II, superheroes faced a steady decline in popularity. Their development was complicated by the rise of gritty horror and crime comic books, as well as by national parental concerns ignited by Dr. Fredric Wertham's influential book Seduction of the Innocent, and fanned by U.S. Senate hearings on juvenile delinquency. In response, the comic book industry implemented the Comics Code, which forbade gore, sexual suggestiveness, and disrespect of authorities, among other tenets. This made certain genres more difficult to publish, though comic books, like the similarly constrained media of film and television, of necessity, developed new means of storytelling and new types of stories.

History

The beginning (as well as the end) of the Silver Age is cause for debate, but it is generally agreed that the period began with DC Comics’ Showcase #4 in 1956, which introduced the modern version of the Flash. Under editor Julius Schwartz, the Flash was the first of many old characters revised as streamlined, science fiction-influenced models. Others included Green Lantern, the Atom and Hawkman. DC also introduced The Justice League of America, an all-star group consisting of its most popular characters.

The success of these series meant DC had found a viable format that could make for successful properties under Comics Code Authority restrictions. This helped breathe new life into the medium and sales began to recover.

The period also saw the rise of Marvel Comics, under the guidance of writer-editor Stan Lee and artists/cowriters Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, who introduced more sophisticated characterization and dynamic plotting into superhero comics. The most popular and influential Marvel character of this period was Spider-Man. Other significant and long-lasting Marvel heroes introduced during the Silver Age include The Fantastic Four, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Daredevil, The X-Men, and Marvel's own all-star group, The Avengers. After an initial period of hesitance, DC began to adopt some of Marvel's creative approaches.

The resurgence of superheroes proved so influential that publishing houses not known for such characters — including Archie Comics, Charlton Comics and Dell Comics — attempted their own superheroes, but met with limited critical and popular success. Tower Comics was an exception with the well-received if short-lived T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents series by Wally Wood.

In addition, new artists, many of whom grew up with comics as well as being formally trained, began to expand the mainstream medium into new art styles. Major examples include Neal Adams who introduced naturalism with his illustrative style, and Jim Steranko who introduced op art, touches of Surrealism, and graphic design elements.

The period hit its commercial peak in 1966-1968 with the popularity of the Batman TV series, which both heightened interest in comics and damaged their public image as a legitimate artistic medium.

Underground comics got their start during the 1960s portion of the Silver Age. However, because the artistic content, goals and marketing of these comic books were so different from the mainstream companies, it is generally considered a separate movement in the medium.

Origin of the term

Comics historian and movie producer Michael Uslan traced the origin of the term to the letters column of Justice League of America #42 (Feb. 1966), which went on sale December 9, 1965. Letter-writer Scott Taylor of Westport, Connecticut wrote, "If you guys keep bringing back the heroes from the ^* Golden Age, people 20 years from now will be calling this decade the Silver Sixties!" The natural hierarchy of gold-silver-bronze, as in Olympic medals, also took hold, and as Uslan writes, "Fans immediately glommed onto this, refining it more directly into a Silver Age version of the Golden Age. Very soon, it was in our vernacular, replacing such expessions as ... 'Second Heroic Age of Comics' or 'The Modern Age' of comics. It wasn't long before dealers were ... specifying it was a Golden Age comic for sale or a Silver Age comic for sale."

End of the Silver Age

The precise end of the Silver Age is in some debate. Candidate periods include:

Jack Kirby's departure from Marvel Comics to produce Fourth World titles at DC Comics (1970).
The retirement of Mort Weisinger, long-time editor of the Superman family of comics for DC. The Superman titles were divided among several editors, including Julius Schwartz, Murray Boltinoff, E. Nelson Bridwell, Mike Sekowsky and, briefly, Jack Kirby.
The advent of darker superhero stories in the early 1970s. During this time, Batman returned to his roots as a dubious vigilante, and Dennis O'Neil and Neal Adams started the gritty, urban-themed series Green Lantern/Green Arrow
The first updating of the Comics Code in the early 1970s, which led to a wave of horror comics such as Ghost Rider and Tomb of Dracula.
The death of Gwen Stacy, the girlfriend of Peter Parker (Spider-Man) in 1973.
The debut of the "All-New All-Different" X-Men in Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), restarting a franchise that would dominate subsequent decades.

Subsequent eras

After a brief period dominated by horror and fantasy titles, a third period of superheroes commonly referred to as the Bronze Age (by analogy with the archaeological Bronze Age) began, with a new wave of creators including writers Steve Englehart, Mike Friedrich, Steve Gerber, Don McGregor, Doug Moench, and Len Wein, and artists such as Rich Buckler, Marshall Rogers, P. Craig Russell, and Bernie Wrightson.

The period after that is variously referred to as the Modern Age of Comic Books, the Dark Age of Comic Books (referring to both a decline in the industry and the popularity of grim titles such as Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen), the Iron Age of Comic Books, or the Diamond Age of Comic Books (suggested by Scott McCloud, with the different facets signifying the current diversity in the medium).

The term "Neo-silver", (a term many attribute to IGN.com columnist Peter Sanderson) has been used as of late to describe comics such as Kurt Busiek's Astro City that attempt to return to the lighter, more noble aspects of Silver Age comics while retaining the maturity and complexity of later ages.

Stylistic conventions

Certain styles and conventions were generally common to titles during the Silver Age.

Comic book covers

DC covers of the Silver Age are notable for the abundance of speech balloons. Marvel, after its first year or so, generally opted for an action scene or a dramatic tableau, frequently with such symbolic elements as floating heads watching and reacting, and only returned to speech balloons occasionally toward the end of the era — creating controversy among Marvelites at the time. Speech balloons eventually fell out of favor and are rarely seen on covers today, except as homage or parody.

Noted Silver Age talents

During this period in mainstream companies, artists, especially at Marvel, began to play an increasingly important role as story co-plotters.

Editors

Writers

Pencilers

Inkers

External Links

Unca Cheeks' Silver Age Comics Site

Alter Ego-Magazine Devoted to Golden & Silver Age Comics Edited by Comics Writer/Editor Roy Thomas

Footnotes

Alter Ego Vol. 3, #54 (Nov. 2005), p. 79
Ibid.

History of comic books

Era de Prata da Banda Desenhada

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